Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention generally relate to a method for forming an electrostatic chuck (ESC), and more particularly, for forming an ESC using film printing technology.
Description of the Background Art
In the processing of substrates, such as semiconductor wafers and displays, a substrate support is used to retain a substrate during a particular manufacturing process. The substrate support apparatus may include an electrostatic chuck (ESC) for attracting and retaining a substrate, such as a semiconductor wafer, during a manufacturing process such as in a physical vapor deposition (PVD) processing system, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processing system and etching system. In substrate processing equipment, the electrostatic chuck may be detachably secured to a pedestal within the process chamber that is capable of raising and lowering the height of the ESC and substrate.
ESCs typically include one or more electrodes embedded within a unitary chuck body which comprises a dielectric or semi-conductive ceramic material across which an electrostatic clamping field can be generated. In a bipolar electrode chuck, the ESC comprises two electrodes which are electrically biased relative to one another to provide an electrostatic force that holds the substrate to the ESC. Often during the fabrication of ESCs, it is difficult to attach metal components (e.g., metal backing plates) to a ceramic chuck body or embed metal components (e.g., electrodes) within the ceramic chuck body via a furnace anneal process, due to the difference in thermal expansion coefficients (CTE) of the ceramic and metal. This may result in thermo-mechanical stresses that can cause the ceramic to fracture or chip during thermal cycling. Additionally, differences in the CTEs may increase with temperature resulting in greater thermo-mechanical stresses at higher temperatures. To compensate for these stresses, the ceramic chuck body may be made thicker to provide greater strength and prevent fracture, but this often adds cost to the chuck body and increases manufacturing time. Therefore, there is a need for an improved method for forming an ESC.